03:53 PM EDT, 09/20/2024 (MT Newswires) -- The number of oil rigs in the US were unchanged at 488 for the week ended Friday, according to data compiled by energy services company Baker Hughes ( BKR ) .

The tallies for gas and miscellaneous rigs fell by one each on a weekly basis to 96 and four, respectively. A year earlier, the US had 507 oil, 118 gas and five miscellaneous rigs in operation, company data showed.

Overall, 588 rigs were operating in the US this week, down from 630 a year earlier. Among US states, top producer Texas added two rigs, while Colorado, Louisiana, New Mexico, and Utah lost one rig each.

Across North America, oil-and-gas rigs decreased by nine on a weekly basis to 799, compared with 820 at the same point last year. The count in Canada fell by seven at 211 rigs, largely due to a drop in oil.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil was up 0.1% at $71.22 a barrel in Friday late-afternoon trade, while Brent fell 0.2% to $74.72 a barrel, both on track for back-to-back weekly gains.

Brent's recent drop below $70 proved to be "relatively short-lived," Saxo Bank Head of Commodity Strategy Ole Hansen said in a report published Friday. "The market concluded that a (sub-$70) level, combined with hedge funds holding a record weak belief in higher prices of crude and fuel products, would require a recession to be justified -- a risk this week's bumper US rate cut helped reduce," Hansen wrote.

On Wednesday, the US Federal Reserve reduced interest rates by 50 basis points versus a Bloomberg-compiled consensus indicating a smaller 25-basis-point cut.

"We estimate the likelihood of a US recession in 2025 to be 25%, though the impact of higher interest rates remains uncertain," Hansen said.

Price: 36.16, Change: -0.20, Percent Change: -0.56